Exploring Nomophobia: A Cross-Sectional Study on the Prevalence Among College Students in the Chengalpattu District, India

Introduction Nomophobia, also known as "NO MObile PHone Phobia," is a psychological ailment in which people are afraid of losing access to their mobile phones. This study aims to fill this gap by conducting a cross-sectional investigation into the prevalence of nomophobia among college students in the Chengalpattu district. Methodology A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out in the selected colleges located in the Chengalpattu district, Tamil Nadu. Undergraduate college students of both genders aged between 18 and 26 years were included in the study. Out of eight administrative blocks in the district, one block was selected by simple random sampling, and out of the eight arts and sciences colleges in the selected block, through the simple random sampling method, three colleges were selected. The line list of eligible students was prepared based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. A systematic random sampling method was used to recruit the study participants from the line list. A total of 207 students were approached and interviewed using the nomophobia (NMP-Q) questionnaire. Fisher's exact test was used to find the association between nomophobia and its determining factors. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results Out of 207 participants, seven (3.4%) didn't have nomophobia, 57 (27.5%) participants had mild nomophobia, 123 (59.4%) participants had moderate nomophobia, whereas only 20 (9.7%) had severe nomophobia. By gender, female students were found to have increased nomophobic characteristics when compared to male students (p<0.041). Also, students with both parents (p<0.003) and those who have reported daytime sleepiness were found to have an association with nomophobia (p<0.018). Conclusion Nomophobia is also a growing hazard to students' physical, emotional, and social well-being. As a result, it's critical to optimize students' utilization of smartphones only for necessities. Concerns have been made that students' lifestyles and quality of life will be seriously damaged if nomophobia is left neglected by physicians and psychologists.